Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

It was only when I rang the Department of Social and Family Affairs on behalf of my local GAA club that I discovered that the student summer job scheme had been abolished. This has come as a thunderbolt. Community organisations have their projects and schemes in place and there was an anticipation that a good scheme offering 200 hours of community work at the princely sum of €770 would be available this year. This is a retrograde step which should be debated in the House. Summer is four months away and the collective will of the majority of Members of both Houses could reverse this decision. The economy is contracting, jobs are going, it is difficult to get into the United States and opportunities for students are negligible.